Wallabies Bundled Out Of World Cup

My Teams Keep Losing

I watched the Quarter Finals with dismay. The English did it again. They actually won yet another game against the Wallabies while scoring fewer tries.

In Marseille, Jonny Wilkinson and defending champions England again proved Australia's nemesis in a tense 12-10 win at the Stade Velodrome.
England, who downed the Wallabies in the 2003 final in extra-time and the 1995 quarter-final both with drop goals, handled the high stakes better and came home from 10-6 down at halftime.

England, with Wilkinson setting a new World Cup points-scoring career record of 234, had the Australians under relentless pressure with their forwards preventing the Wallabies from gaining any momentum.

Wilkinson again kicked England to victory as he did in Sydney four years ago with his extra-time drop goal, this time landing four penalties from seven attempts with the Wallabies coming up with the only try through winger Lote Tuqiri.

"I thought we were the better side, but it wasn't reflected on the scoreboard and it became a bit of a nail-biter in the last 10 minutes. I'm just so pleased for this group of players," England coach Brian Ashton said.

Yeah. He's not wrong there. It's totally against the grain of Rugby in Australia but England have made a way of winning without scoring tries completely viable. The 10-12 scoreline actually hides how dominant the England Forwards were through out the game. Australia rarely got to get any continuity they needed happening, and that was because the English forward pack would repeatedly contest for the ball at the breakdown successfully. Their defense would hold out against just enough line breaks, and really, the scrums contested by the English were scary events.

And at the end, there it was again, that feeling akin to sinking, the big L Losing feeling. How can a side that actually scored the one try go down to a side that never got near enough to the try line? "FaarrrrKKK!!" What the f*ck was that game? 10-12? I went to bed feeling ill. At least our guys lost fair and square, unlike the other real World Cup where the ref can steal it away from you in the last 30seconds.

I know I sound like I'm grousing or whining when I say this but England have re-established the old way to win: Powerful, skilled forwards contesting for possession, drawing penalties and slotting goals. It's really unlike what Rugby should look like in our cultural heritage/obsession of running the ball, but this isn't the first time they've done this to the Wallabies. In some ways it felt like a replay of the 2003 World Cup Final, sans Steven Larkham to push it into extra time.

It's no consolation that the All Blacks go edged by the French either. What a bummer for the Southern Hemisphere. I never thought I'd say that.